Pre-Match Report

Arsenal v Chelsea - The Brief

2016 Women's FA Cup final

We’re heading back to Wembley to face Chelsea in the SSE Women’s FA Cup final on Saturday evening, hoping to lift the title for a record 15th time.

THE OPPOSITION

Undefeated in the Women’s Super League and yet to concede a single goal during their run to this final, Chelsea are certainly the favourites going into this tie.

 

After thrashing London Bees 10-0 in the fourth round, the Blues hit six past Doncaster Rovers Belles to set up a quarter-final tie with Liverpool.

 

Another dominant performance saw Chelsea run out 3-0 winners on Merseyside before last month’s 2-0 victory over fellow Women’s Super League title challengers Manchester City.

 

Nineteen-year-old Erin Cuthbert is their leading scorer in this competition, netting her first hat-trick against London Bees, but Fran Kirby is the biggest threat, with three goals in three Women’s FA Cup appearances this season.

Fran Kirby

LAST TIME WE MET

We last faced Chelsea at this stage two years ago, when we won this competition for the 14th time by beating the Blues in front of a record Women’s FA Cup final crowd of 32,912.

 

In a tense encounter, it took a sensational strike by Dan Carter to separate the sides. The England international had given Chelsea’s defenders a headache in the opening exchanges and it only took her 18 minutes to curl a spectacular opener past Hedvig Lindahl.

 

We nearly doubled our lead before half-time when Kelly Smith rattled the crossbar from a header, while Asisat Oshoala also had a clear-cut opportunity but lost her footing at the crucial moment.

 

Ji So-yun and Drew Spence threatened to level while Bethany England also went close, but captain Alex Scott hurled her body in front of the shot to maintain our clean sheet and lead us to a record-setting trophy.

ONE TO WATCH

Set to be reinstated to our starting lineup following a spell on the sidelines through injury, Vivianne Miedema will certainly be one to keep an eye on.

 

The 21-year-old Netherlands international scored her 50th international goal during a World Cup qualifying win over Northern Ireland last month, and knows how to deliver on the big stage.

 

Miedema was her country’s leading scorer during the Netherlands’ Euro 2017 triumph, a run which included two goals in the final, but most recently netted the winner against Manchester City to help us lift the Continental Cup in March.

 

As the focal point in what is expected to be a three-pronged front line, don’t be surprised to see the striker make the difference on Saturday.

Vivianne Miedema

FOLLOW THE ACTION

We’ll be providing live updates on our Twitter account - @ArsenalWFC - while you can also watch the game live on BBC.

Kick-off at Wembley is 5.30pm (UK time)